Thursday, 9 June 2016

Man caught with £20,000 of 'Champagne' cocaine in Huddersfield

Man caught with £20,000 of 'Champagne' cocaine in Huddersfield

A man has been jailed for 40 months after he was caught transporting “Champagne” cocaine worth more than £20,000 in Huddersfield.

Leeds Crown Court heard Stefon Beeby was stopped driving his silver VW Golf in Trinity Street on the afternoon of May 10 and appeared nervous.

Jonathan Sharp prosecuting said he appeared to be hiding something and after a confrontation ran off. He was caught and police discovered 498 grammes of high-purity cocaine.

He said the cocaine was around 81% pure rather than the normal street average of 26% which was why it was known as “champagne” cocaine. The street value was estimated at £24,400.

The court heard Beeby was previously sentenced to seven years in prison at Sheffield Crown Court in 2005 for conspiracy to supply Ecstasy.

Robin Howat representing Beeby said although he applied for 1,000 jobs because of his record was not successful. He and his partner then ended up running a pub and while working long hours there somebody suggested he use cocaine for relaxation.

He became addicted they lost the pub partly because of that and at the time of the Huddersfield offence he had personal debts of around £10,000 as well as owing money to a drug dealer for the drugs he used and had come under pressure to pay up.

He was aware of a drug stash belonging to another person and decided to steal it and hand it over to his dealer in payment. He was not aware how much there was or the purity and had got caught because police had an operation in the area.

“He was on a frolic of his own not having the drug for commercial in the normal sense or wider wholesaling so it is very unusual but he understands he will be back in prison for some time.”